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Coming up roses

At the height of the AlDub love team phenomenon, Diane Yap and Lauren Gavino, who had been running an online flower shop for only a month then, received an order for 49 stems of red Ecuadorian roses to be delivered at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, where some concert with ticket sales reaching P14 million would be filled with 55,000 people.

Their response: “If you want, on top of the cost of the arrangement, pay for our gas and toll.”

On that day, October 24, 2015, that three-hour commercial-free episode registered a TV rating of 50.8%, the channel stated citing data from AGB Nielsen, compared to the 5.4% registered by the competitor. Tweets for the hashtag reached 39.5 million. And amid that number of viewers, actor Alden Richards was walking up the stage carrying that 49-rose boxed arrangement himself— the brand name “Petalier” in clear, full view.

Gavino found herself crying in front of the TV.

“Ang kapal ng mukha namin ‘di ba?,” the two now laugh, looking back at what they consider their store’s big break. “Sobrang fail namin. We didn’t know who AlDub was.”

But entrepreneurship isn’t a bed of roses, and getting flowers on screen took more than just luck or serendipity. At 11 p.m. the previous night—only a few hours before the concert—their supplier for the flowers backed out. Yet instead of giving up right then and there, they insisted on delivering.

Yap had a backup plan ready. The day before, she had begun contacting all the flower suppliers she could find on Google—pleading “Please po, magbabayad kami.”—all while going around public markets to do surveys for a senator she was then still working full-time for. After finding one, a certain “Dra. Anna” who remains their main supplier to this day, they finally got the flowers by 2 a.m., arranged all 49 stems, then had their personal driver to deliver it to Bulacan. The rest, as they say, is history.

“That’s the first time people saw pretty roses in a box,” Yap said.

Influencer marketing has since been Petalier’s main avenue to drive sales.

A “calculated gamble,” Yap describes. “Sometimes they’re effective, sometimes they won’t post you. So that’s money out the door.”

Still, it works, and the two have also launched a new baby: a luxury balloonery called Blloons.

“We thrive on Instagram. We’re typical millennial business people. Uber doesn’t own a single car. We thrive online,” she said. “You can go far with just online. We’re the perfect example.”

INCIDENTAL INTELLIGENCE
Petalier is an online business. Orders can be placed on petalier.com but queries can be sent to 0977- 841-7738 or mail@petalier.com.

Cesar Montano resigns from Tourism Promotions Board amid controversy

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
Actor Cesar D. Montano has stepped down as chief operating officer (COO) of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) amid the controversy over his P80-million Buhay Carinderia food-promotion project with marketing agency Marylindbert International Inc.
“Yes, of course,” newly appointed Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told BusinessWorld in a text message on Monday evening, May 21, when asked if she was aware of Mr. Montano’s resignation.
In a text message to Palace reporters, the tourism chief said that she “would like to consider the matter closed from [her] active involvement.”
She also said that she “trust(s)” that the Commission on Audit (CoA) “will get to the bottom of this episode.”
In his resignation letter, as shared by Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence T. Go, Mr. Montano said: “In faithful adherence to my duty as a public servant, I am respectfully tendering my courtesy resignation as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), effective immediately.”
He said he is “grateful for the trust and the opportunity” that President Rodrigo R. Duterte has bestowed upon him “to serve [the] country through the Tourism Promotions Board.”
Documents obtained by BusinessWorld last week showed that a total of 80,640,172.80 has been paid in tranches, as of April 4, to Marylindbert even before the project had started.
In a press conference on May 17, Ms. Romulo-Puyat announced that she had ordered the suspension of the implementation of Mr. Montano’s project.
She said she wrote a letter to CoA requesting it to review the projects under Mr. Montano’s watch.
In his press briefing at the Palace on Monday morning, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said the President is “very pleased” with Ms. Romulo-Puyat’s handling of the DoT.
“She was appointed with the expressed mandate to do good and to fight corruption and she is doing just that. The President is very pleased,” Mr. Roque said.
In an official statement on Tuesday, May 22, the TPB said its projects and programs “are expected to contribute significant returns on marketing investments that are beneficial in promoting Philippine tourism.”
“Amidst the current controversies, the TPB remains a professional organization that works relentlessly in promoting the Philippines domestically and internationally,” the TPB added.
The agency also extended its support to the direction of Ms. Romulo-Puyat in “guaranteeing transparency in all of its dealings.”
On May 8, Wanda T. Teo also resigned as tourism chief amid criticism over the P60-million DoT advertisement issue, involving her brothers, Bienvenido “Ben” T. Tulfo of media company Bitag Media and broadcaster Erwin T. Tulfo of PTV-4.

Clark airport O&M attracts interest

A CONTRACT to operate and maintain (O&M) for 25 years an expanded Clark International Airport — designed to decongest the premier gateway in Metro Manila — has attracted several groups that sent representatives to a pre-bid conference in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City on Monday.
Eight companies bought bid documents as of Monday, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said in a statement, identifying them as the Megawide-GMR Consortium which in December also won the deal to construct Clark airport’s new passenger terminal building and has done the same for Mactan Cebu International Airport; Metro Pacific Investments Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; San Miguel Holdings Corp.; Prime Asset Ventures, Inc.; Central Luzon Infrastructure Consultancy, Inc.; Consortium; GVK Airport Developers Ltd.; and Groupe ADP.
BCDA noted that representatives of about 30 groups attended Monday’s conference, including Zurich Airport AG; Sojitz Philippines Corp.; Udenna Corp.; Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad; Clarkfield Aviation Services, Inc.; Mitsubishi Corp.; Macquarie Group Limited; JG Summit Holdings, Inc.; Halder & Associates; PAL Express; Samsung Electronics Co.; Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; AirAsia Group; Evercon Builders and Equipment Corp.; and Miescor Logistics, Inc.
BCDA said interested parties may buy bid documents until June 18 for a non-refundable fee of P1 million.
Under a preliminary timetable, bid submission will take place on July 20, which will also see the opening of qualification documents; opening and evaluation of technical bids on July 26; opening of financial bids on Aug. 6; issuance of notice of award on Aug. 24; contract award and signing on Aug. 30.
O&M will start with the existing passenger terminal building this Dec. 1, while the new building should be up and running by July 2020.
The Philippines’ premier gateway, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Metro Manila, is itself about to undergo modernization.
NAIA handled 42 million passengers last year, beyond its 30.5 million designed capacity. A Clark project brief noted that in 2016, “over 13%” of the 39.5 million passengers who passed through NAIA “were bound to or were coming from… northern and Central Luzon, CIA’s (Clark International Airport) catchment area.”
The National Economic and Development Authority Board, chaired by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, last month gave final green light for the P753.63-billion international airport project proposed by San Miguel Corp. to be built in Bulacan, also to help decongest NAIA.
A few technical requirements were questioned during Monday’s conference, including one that requires a bidder to have been in charge of O&M of an airport listed in Skytrax’s top 20 best airports. Skytrax is an airline rating organization based in United Kingdom. Some of those who attended the pre-bid conference said this requirement is too restrictive.
Another requirement is for bidders to have experience in O&M of an international airport for at least three consecutive calendar years with an annual passenger throughput of at least 8 million passengers, while still another says a “[p]rospective bidder must not have any stake in any facility operator within the main island of Luzon, or must not hold, whether direct or indirect, a majority equity interest in a concession holder of an international airport in the Philippines.” — Denise A. Valdez

Executive wants Congress to approve tax amnesty bill by June — Dominguez

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporter
A PLANNED GENERAL tax amnesty could start next semester if Congress could ratify the bill by June, the Department of Finance (DoF) said yesterday.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III bared the DoF’s desired timetable for legislation of the succeeding packages of the tax reform program, as the second regular session of the 17th Congress nears its end on June 1.
“We aim to have a tax amnesty bill pass Congress in the next month,” Mr. Dominguez said in a speech on Monday at the 65th National Convention of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines in Davao City, a copy of which was distributed to reporters.
Asked how soon could the government implement the amnesty program once the bill hurdles in legislation, Mr. Dominguez said in a mobile phone message: “depends on how complex the requirements will be, but definitely before year end.”
However the measure, filed as House Bill No. 7105 and Senate Bill (SB) No. 942, has yet to emerge from committee-level deliberations, even as both versions were initially targeted to hurdle Congress within the first quarter.
House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Dakila Carlo E. Cua (Quirino) said last week that his panel has been “rushing” the bill’s approval at the committee level “hopefully before we go on a break”.
The House version imposes an eight percent tax on amnesty availers’ net worth, covering taxable year 2017, or P10,000-10 million, depending on the type of taxpayer — in exchange for immunity from civil, criminal and administrative penalties. The bill also includes the relaxation of the Bank Secrecy Law, allowing the Bureau of Internal Revenue to inspect tax amnesty availers’ bank accounts to ensure accuracy of their declarations during the amnesty period.
The Senate version, in comparison, imposes a lower five percent amnesty rate covering taxable year 2015.
The tax amnesty bill forms part of so-called Package 1B, consisting of provisions that had been stricken from Republic Act No. (RA) 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act law, signed into law in mid-December and which took effect last January.
Package 1B also includes an estate tax amnesty — which had been approved on third and final reading by the House early last year but which is pending with the Senate ways and means committee — and the motor vehicle users tax that is still stuck in committee level in both chambers.
Package 1B will increase projected additional revenues from the first of up to five planned tax reform packages (RA 10963) to P124.9 billion this year from P82.3 billion initially.
Mr. Dominguez also said the DoF is “targeting the third week of July as the deadline for filing Packages 3 and 4 with Congress,” with the former consisting of changes in property taxation and valuation to give national and local levies in this sector a uniform framework, and the latter restructuring capital income and financial taxes.
Mr. Dominguez added in his speech that “Package 2 of the comprehensive tax reform program that will lower corporate income tax rates for everybody… and modernize our fiscal incentives is moving at a good pace towards legislation.”
In order to “prepare for conditions of high growth and more intensive economic activity, we need to prepare our systems and institutions,” he said.
The DoF aims for Packages 2, 3 and 4 to be implemented next year.
Mr. Dominguez said earlier that the DoF will be proposing to Congress within this year “Package 2+” which includes more increases to tobacco and alcohol taxes and a comprehensive mining tax reform to give the government a bigger share in miners’ revenues, but made no mention of them in his speech yesterday.

Thai Q1 GDP expands at best pace in five years; gov’t raises 2018 forecast

BANGKOK — Thailand produced its fastest economic growth in five years in the first quarter, boosted by strong exports and tourism plus a slight firming in long-weak private consumption.
With the robust January-March performance, the national planning agency raised its 2018 growth forecast to 4.2-4.7% from 3.6-4.6% seen three months ago.
The agency said on Monday it didn’t lift its forecast much as annual growth “is likely to slow because of a high base effect” for coming periods.
Thammarat Kittisiripat, economist of KT Zmico Securities, said the new outlook “suggests smaller downside risks to growth, with a good sign on improving domestic demand and government spending.”
He predicts 2018 growth of 4.2%, following last year’s 3.9%, the best in five years.
Capital Economics said Thailand started 2018 on a strong note but growth “may now have peaked,” though the economy should remain in good health.
Gross domestic product grew a seasonally adjusted 2% in the first quarter from the fourth, the fastest pace since 2012’s last quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said.
The pace was nearly twice a Reuters poll’s 1.05% forecast and far above October-December’s 0.5%.
January-March’s annual pace was 4.8% — above the poll’s 4% and the best for a quarter since January-March 2013.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters “it took us five years” to get growth this high, and the level should boost the private sector’s confidence.
The NESDB raised its 2018 export growth forecast to 8.9% from 6.8% seen three months ago.
Exports, a growth driver, surged about 10% in 2017 after years of poor numbers, and also expanded 10% in January-March, with solid shipments of cars, electronics and hard drives.
RELIANCE ON EXPORTS
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has recorded better headline growth in the last few years, supported by solid global recovery, but it is not yet firing on all cylinders.
Growth remains heavily reliant on exports, and private investment and consumption remain tepid, curbed by high household debt, while excess industrial capacity remains a problem.
The military government is trying to ramp up spending and large infrastructure projects to spur activity, but disbursement has slowed following stricter procurement rules imposed in 2017’s second half.
In January-March, tourist numbers surged 15.4%.
Private consumption was up 3.6%, compared with 3.4% a year earlier, and private investment rose 3.1%.
Investments by state enterprise rose 11.5% from a year earlier but spending by the government contracted, NESDB data showed.
The agricultural sector rebounded 6.5% in the first quarter from a year earlier, on better crops, after a 1.3% fall in October-December.
With inflation subdued, Thailand’s central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates near record lows the rest of 2018, though some predict policy tightening late in the year.
The policy rate has been 1.50% since a quarter-point cut in April 2015.
The central bank next reviews policy on June 20. — Reuters

US agrees with China to shelve tariff threats

WASHINGTON — The US trade war with China is “on hold” after the world’s largest economies agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.
Mr. Mnuchin and US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the agreement reached by Chinese and American negotiators on Saturday set up a framework for addressing trade imbalances in the future.
“We are putting the trade war on hold. Right now, we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework,” Mr. Mnuchin said in a television interview on Fox News Sunday.
On Saturday, Beijing and Washington said they would keep talking about measures under which China would import more energy and agricultural commodities from the United States to narrow the $335-billion annual US goods and services trade deficit with China.
During an initial round of talks this month in Beijing, Washington demanded that China reduce its trade surplus by $200 billion. No dollar figure was cited in the countries’ joint statement on Saturday.
The official China Daily said on Monday everyone could heave a sigh of relief at the ratcheting down of rhetoric, and cited China’s chief negotiator, Vice-Premier Liu He, as saying the talks had proved to be “positive, pragmatic, constructive and productive.” “Despite all the pressure, China didn’t ‘fold,’ as US President Donald Trump observed. Instead, it stood firm and continually expressed its willingness to talk,” the English-language newspaper said in an editorial. “That the US finally shared this willingness means the two sides have successfully averted the head-on confrontation that, at one point, seemed inevitable.”
Tension between the two sides has been growing since the Trump administration proposed tariffs of $50 billion on Chinese goods and said it might extend the levies to an additional $150 billion. China responded with its own measures targeting US agriculture.
The US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said that getting China to open its market to more US exports was significant, but that it was far more important for the United States to resolve issues with China such as forced technology transfers and cyber theft. “Real structural change is necessary. Nothing less than the future of tens of millions of American jobs is at stake,” Mr. Lighthizer said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr. Kudlow told CBS Face the Nation it was too soon to lock in the $200-billion figure for China’s promised purchases. “The details will be down the road. These things are not so precise,” he said.
In addition, he told ABC’s This Week that the broader issues were still in play, and that China had “structural reforms” such as lowering tariffs and non-tariff barriers that will allow the United States to boost exports.
Mr. Trump was in a “very positive mood about this,” Kudlow said.
However, he said there was no trade deal yet reached.
“There’s no agreement for a deal,” Mr. Kudlow told ABC. “We never anticipated one. There’s a communique between the two great countries, that’s all. And in that communique, you can see where we’re going next.”
One next step will be dispatching Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to China to look at areas where there will be significant increases, including energy, liquefied natural gas, agriculture and manufacturing, Messrs. Mnuchin and Kudlow said.
Mr. Mnuchin said the United States expects to see a big increase of 35-40% in agricultural exports to China this year alone and a doubling of energy purchases over the next three to five years. “We have specific targets. I am not going to publicly disclose what they are. They go industry by industry,” Mr. Mnuchin said.
Saturday’s statement made no mention of whether there would be a relaxation of paralyzing restrictions on Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp. imposed last month by the US Commerce department.
The action was related to violation of US sanctions on Iran and North Korea and banned American companies from selling semiconductors and other components to ZTE, causing the Shenzhen-based company to cease most operations.
Trump said last week he had directed Mr. Ross to put ZTE back in business, but Mr. Kudlow said any change would be minimal.
“If any of the remedies are altered they are still going to be very, very tough, including big fines, compliance measures, new management, new boards,” he said.
“Do not expect ZTE to get off scot-free. Ain’t going to happen.” — Reuters

Cebu airport drives Megawide earnings higher

MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. delivered an 8% improvement in its attributable profit for the first three months of 2018, driven by the double-digit top-line growth from its airport business which offset the seasonally slow construction segment.
In a regulatory filing, the listed firm reported a net income attributable to the parent of P475.29 million, higher than the P439.98 million it posted in the same period a year ago.
Revenues, however, slipped by 6.67% to P4.45 billion, following the slowdown in contract revenues seen for the period. Its construction business accounted for 84% of total revenues, or P3.7 billion, 11% lower year on year. Megawide attributed this decline to the cyclical nature of the construction business segment.
The infrastructure and engineering conglomerate’s order book includes 8990 Holdings, Inc.’s Ortigas Extension project, and DoubleDragon Properties Corp.’s Ascott-DD Meridian Park and Double Dragon Tower Phase 3.
Megawide managed to secure P13.3 billion worth of new contracts during the first quarter, already 124% of the total new contracts it bagged in 2017. It has been tapped to construct the Clark International Airport’s expansion, while other projects are mostly in the private sector namely Gateway Mall 2 Hotel, Golden Bay Tower, Taft East Gate, and Space Ubelt.
“The push of the government’s Build, Build, Build program is a key revenue driver for our construction business. Given our competitive advantage as a Quadruple A contractor, a concession operator and a fully integrated engineering company, we are in the best position to participate in these projects,” Megawide Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Edgar B. Saavedra said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the airport segment accounted for the remaining 16% of Megawide’s total revenues or P646.1 million, up 13% year on year. Passenger volume picked up by 11% for the period, with international arrivals accelerating by 14% and domestic passengers by 10%. This resulted to a 37% increase in net income to P369.7 million, with profit margin reaching 57% from 48% the prior year.
Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) handled 2.7 million passengers in the first quarter, 65% of which were domestic while 35% were international arrivals. The company benefited from its addition of new airlines, international flights to Busan and Guangzhou, and domestic routes to Ormoc and Catbalogan (via Biliran) for the period.
By the end of the quarter, MCIA had a total of eight local and 17 international airline partners, plying 32 domestic and 22 international destinations.
“The solid performance of our airport segment will be supported by the completion of Terminal 2 in June of this year. This will open more opportunities to steer this segment to even greater heights. Thriving tourism will also help boost growth as we position MCIA as the country’s main tourist hub with its strategic geographic location at the center of the Philippines,” Mr. Saavedra said.
GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) is set to start commissioning the new passenger terminal of the MCIA on June 22. MCIA is targeting a 12% increase in passenger traffic to 11.2 million this year, from 10 million in 2017.
GMCAC won the contract for the P17.52-billion MCIA Passenger Terminal Building project under the Aquino administration’s flagship public-private partnership program, and the concession to develop MCIA for a period of 25 years.
Shares in Megawide went up by P1 or 4.8% to P21.85 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

AboitizPower regional expansion a big part of its 2021-2025 plan

A REGIONAL expansion will be a big part of Aboitiz Power Corp.’s new 2025 targets when it holds a strategic planning this year, its president said on Monday, as the company is on track to meet its 2020 target capacity of 4,000 megawatts (MW).
“We’re kind of targeting certain countries,” Antonio R. Moraza, president of AboitizPower told reporters after the company’s stockholders meeting in Makati City.
“We’re due to do a strat [strategic] planning this year because we want to go up to 2025 now,” he said.
Asked if a regional expansion will have a big part of the company’s new targets, he said: “I believe it would be.”
He identified these countries as Myanmar and Indonesia, where the company is looking to build large hydroelectric power plants.
Mr. Moraza said part of the reason for the strategic planning for the years 2021-2025 is because the company is close to hitting its target capacity ahead of the 2020 deadline.
The company currently has nearly 3,000 MW in sellable capacity, while expecting an additional 536 MW this year. New power plant units are expected to come online next year and in 2020.
Mr. Moraza said the company is not likely to expand the 2020 target to accommodate new acquisitions in the next two years.
“Frankly that’s not being contemplated in our calculations,” he said.
Mr. Moraza said greenfield projects would be out of the question for the company because of an existing over-capacity.
For this year, he said AboitizPower has allotted P62 billion in capital expenditures, lower than last year’s P30 billion.
The bulk of this year’s capex has been set aside for GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., which is developing a two-unit supercritical coal-fired power with a net capacity of 668 MW. It is expected to start commercial operations in 2019.
Liza Luv T. Montelibano, AboitizPower senior vice-president and chief financial officer, said P37 billion of the capex has been set aside for GNPower Dinginin. The company has a 40% stake in the project in Barangay Dinginin, Mariveles, Bataan.
“TVI (Therma Visayas, Inc.) and Pagbilao (Energy Corp.) will be online this year, but there’s still capex for that on its first year, that’s about P13 billion,” she said, noting about P10-P15 billion is allocated for regular operation and “exploratory” capex.
Ms. Montelibano said this year’s budget for GNPower Dinginin is just part of the total funding for the project, with at least P30 billion set aside for next year.
“Right now, this is the chunk of the spending for the construction of unit one,” she said, adding that next year’s budget would have the second unit cornering the biggest portion.
On Monday, shares in AboitizPower slipped 1.80% to close at P38.15 each. — Victor V. Saulon

Japan wins Cannes top prize after Weinstein accuser takes stage


CANNES, France — Shoplifters, a heartwrenching family tale by Japanese veteran director Hirokazu Kore-eda, won the Palme d’Or top prize at the Cannes film festival Saturday, at a ceremony marked by an emotional speech from a Harvey Weinstein accuser.
Spike Lee accepted the runner-up Grand Prix for BlacKkKlansman, a searing broadside against racism with the stranger-than-fiction true story of an African-American police officer who manages to infiltrate the highest levels of the Ku Klux Klan.
Jury president Cate Blanchett said the film, which explicitly links the 1970s tale and white nationalism in the Trump era, “blew us out of the cinema.”
But the most stunning moment of the night came when Italian star Asia Argento, who has said she was raped by Weinstein at Cannes in 1997, took the microphone and vowed to fight for justice for other victims.
“This festival was his hunting ground,” said Argento, who says she was 21 when Weinstein attacked her in his hotel room.
“Even tonight sitting among you there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women. We know who you are and we are not going to allow you to get away with it any longer,” she said to cheers from the audience.
Minutes before the actress took the stage, police in Paris said they had opened a criminal probe against one of France’s best-known directors, The Fifth Element maker Luc Besson, for allegedly raping an actress.
‘RARE GOOD NEWS’
Lebanese actress-director Nadine Labaki, one of three female filmmakers among the 21 contenders, earned the third-place Jury Prize for Capernaum set among the poorest of the poor in Beirut and featuring a devastating performance by a 13-year-old Syrian refugee boy.
Kazakhstan’s Samal Yeslyamova nabbed best actress for Ayka by director Sergey Dvortsevoy for her moving portrayal of a young jobless immigrant from post-Soviet Central Asia who abandons her baby in Moscow.
Polish Oscar winner Pawel Pawlikowski took the prize for best director for Cold War, a tragic love story set against the backdrop of the Iron Curtain.
Pawlikowski, who won the foreign-language movie Oscar for Ida in 2015, caused a scandal at home when he told AFP at the festival that the film had been “blacklisted” by the nationalist government. Warsaw denied the claim.
He said his award was “a rare piece of good news” for his country.
Italy’s Marcello Fonte — who was working as a caretaker when he was discovered — was the night’s fairy tale winner. He clinched best actor for his much-loved performance as a soft-spoken pet groomer who stands up to a heavy in Matteo Garrone’s Dogman.
Three Faces by Iran’s Jafar Pahahi, who was barred by Tehran from attending the festival, shared the best screenplay prize with Italian director Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro.
The Belgian transgender ballerina drama Girl won the Camera d’Or prize for best first film. It had earlier scooped the Queer Palm prize for LGBT-themed cinema and the best actor award for Victor Polster in the Un Certain Regard sidebar section.
French-Swiss legend Jean-Luc Godard also got a special prize for The Image Book, a bold, sometimes baffling meditation on the big questions of our time — war, migration and the survival of the planet.
‘VERY SCARY TIME’
Shoplifters was an early favorite at the 71st Cannes festival.
It depicts a couple who rescue two abused and neglected children, providing the first love the youngsters have experienced even as they groom the kids to steal.
US movie website IndieWire hailed it as “miraculous” while The Guardian called it “a rich, satisfying film.”
Spike Lee called his own movie, which many critics hailed as a return to form for the Do the Right Thing director, a “wake-up call” against extremism around the world. “It’s a very, very scary time we live in,” he told reporters.
“There is a lot of change but there is a lot of stuff that needs to happen… and with the present (Trump) administration they’re doing many things to roll back the clock which I feel is dangerous.”
Beyond the prize winners, this year’s festival will linger for its off-screen moments.
Hollywood stars including Blanchett, Kristen Stewart, Helen Mirren and Salma Hayek and directors Ava DuVernay and Patty Jenkins joined a red-carpet protest to demand equal opportunities for women and a “safe workplace.”
Two days later, festival organizers signed a pledge to encourage more diversity in its selection by 2020.
Despite being one of the most sought-after tickets, the premiere of Danish bad boy Lars von Trier’s The House That Jack Built saw audience members walk out in droves from what they called a misogynistic orgy of violence.
Both its female stars, Uma Thurman and Riley Keough, were conspicuously absent from the red carpet, where Stewart on another night staged a protest of her own by slipping off her high heels and climbing the vaunted Cannes stairs barefoot.
In 2017, the top prize went to Ruben Ostlund’s The Square, an art world send-up that went on to bag an Oscar nomination. — AFP

Damosa Land prepares to launch 2 projects in Davao del Norte

DAVAO CITY — Damosa Land, Inc. (DLI) is preparing to begin marketing and pre-selling activities this year for its two new residential projects in Davao del Norte, the Agriya township in Panabo City and the Bridgeport complex on Samal Island.
“We are finalizing everything (development plans) and soon we will introduce both to the market,” DLI Vice-president Ricardo F. Lagdameo told BusinessWorld in an interview last week.
Agriya is an 88-hectare mixed use project, of which 20 hectares will comprise the residential component. The rest will be for open spaces, commercial areas, and a graduate school of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Bridgeport, on the other hand, is a 12-hectare complex with condominiums and a 20-unit exclusive subdivision for stand-alone houses.
In Davao City, DLI has started construction for the last of its six-tower condominium project Seawind.
Two buildings are already up, while the third and fourth are scheduled for completion this year, according to Mr. Lagdameo.
Seawind, DLI’s first condominium project, recently won the Asia Pacific Property Award 2018 for the condominium Philippines category.
“This award serves as a seal of quality that we are following the international standards in property development,” said Mr. Lagdameo.
DLI, the real estate arm of the Floirendo-owned Anflo Management and Investment Corp., is engaged in residential, commercial and leisure, industrial, and mixed-use developments within Mindanao.
The Asia Pacific Property Awards is part of the International Property Awards for residential and commercial property professionals in the world. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

James Go appointed as Cebu Air chairman after Romulo resigns from board

CEBU AIR, Inc. on Monday appointed James L. Go as chairman, after the resignation of long-time chairman Ricardo J. Romulo.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the listed operator of Cebu Pacific said Mr. Romulo resigned as director and chairman on May 21.
Mr. Romulo, 83, was the chairman of the Cebu Air board since 1995. He was also the chairman of the executive board of the Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles law firm. He is also the chairman of FPG Insurance Co., Inc., InterPhil Laboratories, Inc., Sime Darby Pilipinas, Inc. and Towers Watson Philippines, Inc.
Mr. Go, chairman of Cebu Air’s parent JG Summit Holdings, Inc., is also a director of the company. In April, he stepped down as chief executive officer from JG Summit, replaced by Lance Y. Gokongwei, who is also president.
Mr. Go also heads Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp., JG Summit Petrochemical Corp., JG Summit Olefins Corp., Universal Robina Corp., and Robinsons Land Corp. He is a director of PLDT, Inc. and the Manila Electric Co.
The Gokongwei-led budget carrier reported higher earnings for first quarter, after seeing higher passenger revenues.
In a recent regulatory filing, Cebu Air said its net income reached P1.436 billion during the January to March period, 12% higher year on year. It was driven by an 8.3% increase in revenues, mostly coming from passenger revenues which stood at P13.676 billion.
Shares in Cebu Air dropped 2.49% to close at P87.95 each. — Denise A. Valdez

Red carpet looks that dazzled Cannes


CANNES, France — With two powerful protests by female stars calling for equal pay and treatment, the red carpet at the Cannes film festival — which ended Sunday — was about much more than fashion statements.
But that did not dim the glamor of the gala premieres. We look back on 12 days and nights of glitz, as well as the occasional wardrobe malfunction, on the French Riviera.
WHO’S WEARING THE TROUSERS?
The Cannes red carpet has seen a lot in 71 years. But few nights will live longer in the memory than the one when female stars led by jury president Cate Blanchett protested about the festival’s epic fail when it comes to women directors. All but 82 films of the near 1,700 shown at Cannes over the years have been by men.
This was also possibly the best-dressed demo in history, with Kristen Stewart rocking a white Chanel trouser suit and many others following #MeToo protests elsewhere by dressing in black. This was a Cannes where women wore the trousers — once frowned upon by the festival’s dress code — with Blanchett killing it with a black Givenchy jumpsuit for the premiere of Capernaum.
QUEEN CATE
No one does regal better than Blanchett who made her name playing British monarch Elizabeth I. Her intelligence and poise gave the festival a new sheen, from her speech at the protest to her insistence that the jury will chose the best film, not the one that best fits the political narrative.
Her wardrobe choices were equally impeccable at more than a dozen galas. Two black Armani numbers contrasted with an intricate avant-garde Iris van Herpen dress. And she brought the house down with a spectacular blue Mary Katrantzou ball gown that took six months to make. The dress also delivered the cutest photo of the festival when her daughter hid under her skirts as she left her hotel room.
BLACK IS BACK
Black and mixed-race French actresses showed how to be angry and elegant in their protest on the red carpet about the shocking discrimination and stereotyping they have suffered. Dressed in Balmain they lit up Cannes on the wettest night of the festival and were clapped up the carpet by jury member Khadja Nin.
The Burundian singer has given Blanchett a run for her money with some seriously sassy wax print dresses and headwraps while Spike Lee dusted down his Love and Hate knuckleduster rings from Do the Right Thing for his BlacKkKlansman premiere.
KICKING ASS BAREFOOT
After “Heelgate” in 2015 when women were stopped on the red carpet for not wearing high heels, Cannes “sexist” dress code — since revised — took a bit of a kicking this year with jury member Kristen Stewart throwing off her stilettos and walking barefoot up the steps for BlacKkKlansman.
A few nights later she ground convention further into the dust with an androgynous black Chanel jacket and leather trousers and loafers. Italian director Alice Rohrwacher, whose quirky Happy as Lazzaro was in the running for the Palme d’Or top prize, took gender reversal to a new level by wearing a man’s shirt backwards for her press conference.
BUTTERFLY GOTHIC
Indian icon Aishwarya Rai and Iranian actress Marziyeh Rezaei wore two of the most photographed dresses — for very different reasons. The train of the Bollywood’s star’s peacock/butterfly Michael Cinco dress was the longest seen on the red carpet for many a year, while Rezaei’s was a spectacularly modest shimmering tulle number channelling the most gothic of fairy tales.
A SLIGHT SNAG
And you have to feel sorry for the super chic Japanese actress Erika Karata who had to be rescued not once but twice by her co-stars from Asako 1 & 2 when she got her heel stuck in her dress on the famous Cannes red carpet. — AFP

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